growing as a mother amidst the steadiness of rural life

The Moment I Knew I Would Marry Him

Can you think back to the time you knew that you loved your spouse? The exact moment? I can. It was only three weeks into our relationship, but I knew he was the one. I knew we would spend our lives together. Prepare yourself for some mushy, gushy goodness, my friend, because you are in for a treat.

It was the end of January, three weeks after we met. We were planning to join a group of mutual friends out in the middle of nowhere for a weekend of shooting guns, playing with dirt bikes, and other shenanigans. I was a little hesitant. I mean, we just met and I was signing up to drive about three hours with this guy. Not only that, but we were stopping to meet his grandparents on the way. Whew, that is a lot this early on, right?

He lived another couple hours in the opposite direction of our destination so he decided to come down the night before we would head out for our weekend of fun. Now, this I could do. The way to a man’s heart is his stomach and this was my chance to make him a meal and really make him fall for me. I planned to make salmon on a bed of couscous (pretty fancy, I know). I was ready to sweep him off his feet, but he came even more prepared.

I had him pick up a bottle of wine on his way over; he chose a pinot noir. Everything was well on its way to being ready when he got there. He asked what he could do to help and I told him he could take over making the couscous. He stepped right up to the plate and got to work. Once he got done with that task he asked what else he could do. At that point it was just a waiting game, so I told him there really wasn’t anything else to do.

That is when it happened. That is when he made the move that melted me and made me sure he was the one. Instead of just going to sit on the couch and wait (which is what past suitors had done and a totally normal response) he made a very different choice. He, without prompting or even hinting, started doing my dishes. Yeah, you heard me right, he voluntarily started washing my dishes.

Whoa. I was not prepared for this. This was the first time he was at my house and here he was doing my dishes? What a sweet man. That was it. That was when I knew he had the character of a man I would be proud to claim, who I would be privileged to have as the father of my children.

Not what you were expecting, huh. You thought it was a few weeks later when he gave me a bronze rose that he crafted himself in a bouquet of a dozen red roses with a note saying that he will love me until the last rose dies. Or a couple months after that when he took off work for almost a week to be with me after my grandma died. No. Those were beautiful moments in our relationship as well, but this was the first. It set the tone for our relationship.

Isn’t that what we all want? Someone who is willing to jump in and get their hands dirty. Someone with the heart of a servant, willing to help out where he can. Someone who will be your partner in life. If that is not your desire you should really reevaluate the type of man you want as your constant companion for the rest of your life.

There have been so many things that my husband has done to cause me to fall for him over and over. He shows me love everyday by the little things he does. He works hard for our family, he is a great father to our little guy. I got my dream guy. I am so blessed that God chose me to be his wife.